You can lock some of your iPhone photos and videos behind a password with the Hidden photo album. It is easy to add photos, remove photos, and you can secure the album with either a passcode or Face ID. You can even hide the album itself.
While there are plenty of photos on iPhones that people love to share with family and friends, some people may have some that they’d rather keep to themselves. To ensure these stay private, many users love the idea of password-protecting these sensitive photos and videos.
But is this an option? Keep reading to learn more about how you can lock some of your most private and sensitive photos on your iPhone.
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Key Takeaways
- The Hidden photo album isn’t new, but only recently have you been able to protect it with a passcode that allows your private photos to truly be secure.
- Adding (or removing) photos and videos from the album is easy, and you can protect these photos with a passcode or even Face ID.
- In addition to hiding photos in the Hidden album, you can also hide the entire album itself.
The way that you can go about locking a few photos and keeping them private on your iPhone is with the Hidden photo album. It is simply an album within your photo library that allows you to keep certain photos and videos private.
This is not a new feature as the Hidden album has been there for a while, but only recently has Apple allowed it to be protected with a password.
Adding photos to the Hidden album is easy, and you do it by first going to the Photos app. If you want to hide a single photo, just tap on the photo, then the three circles at the top-right of the screen. Choose Hide from the list of provided options.
If you want to hide and lock multiple photos at once, go back to the main photo library, hit the Select button on the top of the screen, click all of the photos you want to make private, and then tap the three circles at the bottom-right of the screen and choose hide.
This will instantly move these photos to the Hidden album. If you want to move photos out of the Hidden album, simply go to the album, select the photo, click the three circles icon and tap Unhide.
By default, the Hidden album (as well as your Recently Deleted album) will be locked and require a passcode or your Face ID to open them. There is also a padlock icon next to the album title instead of a number, so no one will even know how many photos you have there.
If you have Face ID activated, you will be required to use this feature to unlock the album. But if you turn off Face ID, you will be able to secure the album with a passcode, though Face ID is generally more secure as passcodes can always be guessed or found out.
You can turn this off and not require any kind of protection by going to Settings > Photos and then turning Use Face ID or Use Passcode off, but I don’t recommend it as the point of the album is to protect private photos.
If you don’t want anyone to know you have a Hidden photo album at all, you can actually hide the entire album from your screen. This is done by going to Settings > Photos, and then tapping the Show Hidden Album button to turn it on or off.
Third-Party Apps
In addition to the official Hidden album, there are also plenty of third-party apps that can be found on the App Store that can password-protect sensitive photos and videos.
Many of these have existed for years, and these photo vault apps were the “go to” option before the Hidden album allowed users to lock photos. In addition to keeping photos safe and private, these apps will often come with additional features like encryption, a private cloud, and more.
While some of these apps are paid, there are plenty of free options available too. Before choosing which one to work with, make sure to check out some reviews and the overall reputation of the app, to ensure it meets your needs and has a good track record.
Final Thoughts
Being able to keep some of your photos and videos private and password-protected on the iPhone without a third-party app is something users have wanted for years, and it is finally here.
I hope that my guide has helped you learn more about how to properly and securely lock some of your photos with a passcode/Face ID.
Is there anything else you think I should have mentioned in this guide? If so, don’t hesitate to let me know in a comment.
